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Pfau caps busy week of wrestling with title in junior national tourney

By {screen_name}
Thursday, July 19, 2012

It’s been a whirlwind week for Cody Pfau, but it’s been worth it.

Pfau was in Maracaibo, Venezuela, last week wrestling for the U.S. Women’s National Cadet team in the Pan-Am Championships. A couple days after that ended, she wrestled for a junior national title in Fargo, N.D.

She placed second in her Pan-Am Championships in the 49-kilogram (108-pound) weight class, and she won the junior national title. She also won the Canada Cup earlier in July in Guelph, Canada.

“I feel I can do better,” Pfau said of her Pan-Am showing. “Second is not good enough.”

She gave up one point in the first period of the best-of-three period match. Neither wrestler scored in the second period. Her opponent got to draw to determine overtime position and won. The opponent started with one of Pfau’s legs in her hands and successfully took her down for the score and the victory.

She was 3-1 in the round-robin draw.

“It was different,” Pfau said. “The international girls don’t do folkstyle. They just wrestle freestyle.”

Folkstyle is the most common at the high school and college level. Freestyle is more common in international events.

Pfau, 17, wasn’t surprised by the competition, but she was surprised by the living conditions in Venezuela.

“It was sketchy,” Pfau said of her first trip there. “I felt I went back in time. It was so low-tech. There were pack mules in the middle of the road. The gym was very old, and there was no air conditioning.”

Pfau took four connecting flights the day after the Pan-Am Games to get to Fargo to compete in the ASICS/Vaughan Junior Girls National Championships the next day. Nationals were completed Wednesday.

“I’m tired of travel,” she said.

Pfau put on a couple pounds after the Pan-Am tournament and had to lose a handful of pounds to make weight for nationals. She wrestled junior nationals at 105 pounds.

She made her way through the bracket, winning six matches to reach the final. There, she defeated Haley Moreno of Texas 6-0 and 6-3.